When Hearts Are Aglow
by Princess Buruma
Summary: Ash lives in Cerulean City to help Misty with the maintenance of the Gym. He hesitates about telling her how he feels, and it doesn't help the fact that she keeps avoiding him. Will they be able to sort things out before Christmas?
1. I Need You

I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

A/N: Characters' ages: Both Ash and Misty are about 17.

This story was made mostly around 2003, when I wasn't as good at English as I am now. I decided to rewrite it to fix all my mistakes, changing some lines and eliminating the thoughts. Same story, same events, almost the same dialogs, now it's more enjoyable and easier to read.

When Hearts Are Aglow

Chapter 1: I Need You

It was almost Christmas Eve, and a whole month had passed since Ash received a call from Misty asking him to work with her in the Cerulean Gym. Daisy had gotten married, Violet was living with her boyfriend and Lily had recently accepted an offer to run a gym for a new league. So then, as the work might be a little boring and exhausting for only herself, she thought she could have some company. She thought, of course, of Ash.

The aspirant to the title of Pokémon Master happily accepted his best friend's offer, thinking it would be fun to help run an official gym and it would also be very good for his training. Since his arrival at the city, Misty and him spent many good times, they went out often and had lots of fun. But none of them was brave enough to confess their feelings yet. Deep inside, they both were holding back their want to be in each other's arms.

Lily was going to have a free week to spend this Christmas with her family, so she would go back to the gym as soon as she could to meet her sister and celebrate the great day.

It was December 19th when the videophone was ringing and Ash answered:

"Hello."

"Hi Ash, honey, how are you?"

"Mom? I'm fine, how about you?"

"We're great. Mr. Mime and I did a good job with the Christmas tree. How does yours look like?"

"Well, it's-"

"Ash, it's been a long time!" Somebody interrupted him.

"Professor Oak?"

"Yeah, how is my gym leader doing?"

"Oh, everything is pretty cool here! We're having a lot of work. I'm hoping to stay for a long time_._"

"That's fantastic."

"And they pay enough to go out every week, it's great."

"Good for you. You know Ash, I was wondering if you wanted to spend this Christmas at my lab."

"Really? That sounds fun."

"Right. I'm planning a good party for all the people in Pallet. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure, though... the gym will be closed, but Misty's sisters and their partners will be here and she wants to spend the night with them."

"Well, that's not a problem. They can all come here."

"Oh, alright. Then, I'll tell them and I'll call you back later to confirm, Ok?"

"Yes, Ok. Good bye, Ash. I'll be waiting for your call."

"Don't worry. I'll give you a ring after we talk about it."

His mother pushed Professor Oak a little so she could see Ash better. "Ash, keep in touch, will you?"

"I will mom. Good bye for now."

"Bye, sweetie."

Despite the many good things that had recently happened to Ash, he was still worried because of Pikachu. Since the pokémon left his trainer for a new life, with a female Pikachu he met in the woods, both friends had to part in different ways, just right before Ash received Misty's call to go to help her with the gym. Obviously Ash felt really unhappy when this occurred, but he understood that when one grows up there are many changes that have to be made. And even if it hurts for a while, you have to accept everything happens for a good reason. Until then he'd had no opportunity to see him again, and that's why he was becoming sadder these last days, remembering all the great times they had together, and thinking this would be the first Christmas without his best pokémon friend. Ash was really wishing to see Pikachu, and of course, a certain redhead noticed that.

Thanks to the constant training, Misty was becoming stronger everyday, and turned into an excellent gym leader. Contrary to Ash, she was looking very happy, maybe because of the surprise she was planning for Christmas.

After having an official battle with a trainer, she went to the living room and looked at Ash, who was feeding some pokémon. He smiled at her before speaking.

"You have another victory?"

"Not this time. This trainer proved to be very strong..." She sighed. "Oh, well."

"Hmph... It's late. Did you close the gym?"

"Yes, everything is ready for tomorrow."

"When are we going to have dinner, Misty? I'm hungry."

"If so, why didn't you cook something?"

"I was waiting for you because it's your turn to do it."

"I know. Well, what do you want to eat?"

"You've been improving a lot your cooking skills, so it's the same."

Misty raised an eyebrow. That comment kind of took her aback. "Ok. I'll see what I can do," she said, turning to the kitchen. "Would you turn the TV on? My favorite show is about to start."

"Sure," he responded, as he stood up to grab the remote control that was on the little table a meter away from him.

"Did you remember to buy the new light bulb for the kitchen?"

"Oh, no! I forgot." He gulped thinking he would hear some complaints. "Do you want me to go now?"

"No, it's Ok. It's dark and cold outside and it's not like we can't see with only the other two. Right?"

"Yes. I swear I'll go early tomorrow." He breathed in and out, surprised this time they didn't discuss as usual.

"Right, but try not to wake me up again, Ok? You make too much noise."

"Oh, I'm sorry, _sleeping beauty_, but if you want me to go that early you'll have to stand the consequences..."

She blinked twice. What did he just call her? "Fine, but just try. You don't have to argue."

"It's Ok, I was just kidding."

The next day, Misty had no scheduled battles with trainers. When Ash woke up, he decided to buy that light bulb as quickly as he could, because he knew he wouldn't like to see his friend angry.

While Ash wasn't home, Misty started to prepare the room to welcome Lily back until she received a phone call from Sakura, saying that she had moved to Pallet Town a week ago. She also said that she'd met a boy called Tracy, who told her where Ash and Misty were living. When Ash returned, Misty told him about it:

"You remember Sakura? She called me and said she's recently moved to Pallet. She met Tracy, too."

"Pallet Town? Oh, it's true! I almost forget. Professor Oak called yesterday asking if we wanted to go there for Christmas. Is that Ok with you?"

"What about my sisters?"

"He said they can all go with us."

"Well, I really like the idea but I should tell them first."

"Sure. Lily is coming tomorrow, isn't she? We can ask her then, and if she agrees we can call Daisy and Violet."

"Fine... You know what? I'd love to see our friends again."

"Yeah, me too..." Specially Pikachu, he thought.

Ash showed Misty the light bulb he had bought and climbed up the table to connect it. When he was done, Misty helped him to get down by putting a chair near him. But suddenly, Psyduck entered the kitchen running after Corsola, who was hidden under the table, and then it happened: they knocked over the chair on which Ash was standing, making him fall to the floor, hitting strongly his head. He fainted. Misty was really scared and became desperate. She dragged him carefully to the nearest couch and turned on the fan to give him some air.

"Ash, please, wake up... Come on. Ash, open your eyes. Please. Don't scare me... Come on!"

Ash could hear her loud and clear, but it was hard for him to react. He tried a lot, but managed to do it only about two or three minutes later, when Misty was crying on his chest. She went on talking to him without knowing he was already awake.

"Ash... please, don't leave me... I need you..."

"...I'll never leave you, Misty. I promise."

"Oh, my Gosh! You're awake!" She hugged him tightly.

"Yes, I am."

"...I thought..."

"Shh. It's Ok... I'm alive," he joked.

"Thank Gosh."

"No, thanks to you."

"What for? I did nothing."

"You begged me to wake up."

"Excuse me?"

"I heard you."

She frowned. "What exactly did you hear?"

"Ash, please, don't leave me!" he said in a girlish tone, laughing heartedly.

"It's not funny, you know."

"Yeah, whatever. You have to admit you sounded too desperate."

"I did not."

"Did too."

"Oh, yeah? How desperate was I?"

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't say my secret feelings aloud. Even if I think the one I want isn't hearing me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I need you, Ash!" He said in her tone again.

"Oh, my Gosh. Is that what you heard?"

"Yes, why?

"Let me explain this. I didn't say it because I personally need you, Ok? I was just talking about the gym... I need your help with that."

"Yes, sure."

"Don't you believe me?"

"No."

"Well, that's the whole truth. Maybe you dreamt about it."

"...You know what, Misty?"

"What?"

"You can't lie to me. You can say whatever you want now, but I'm sure of what I heard."

"That's what you'd wish."

"Maybe... And if you want to come clean, I'll be watching TV."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

She started to walk to her room, only to stop in the middle of the corridor. ..._Maybe_?


	2. The Game

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 2: The Game

Misty wasn't feeling too good after having a little argument with Ash one hour ago, and wanted to see if somehow she could apologize. So she thought she could spend a nice evening with him if she invited him to go out.

"Hey, Ash... since we have no scheduled battles for today, would you like to go to the cinema?"

"What for? You don't need me, remember?"

She curled her lips. "...Ok, I'm sorry. You were right. I can't stand lying, anyway... It's true that I need you, you're my best friend. Forgive me... please?"

He hesitated just to bother her a little before answering. "...Of course, Misty. I accept your apology."

"Thank you. Are you coming then?"

"Yeah, I'd love to. What do you wanna see?"

"I don't know, it's the same. You choose."

"Um, well... what about _Hidden feelings_?"

"_Hidden feelings_? And since when do you like romantic films?"

"Well, I don't. But I know you do. And I think it will be a good movie." Of course Ash didn't like love stories, but he knew Misty would, and as long as she was happy he wouldn't mind.

"Ok, just give me some minutes to get ready."

"Alright."

Ten minutes later, Ash was waiting for Misty when he saw her going downstairs. She was wearing a long pink skirt, with a white T-shirt, both clothes skintight, and her hair was down. Ash looked at her astonished.

"Well, are you ready?"

"Uh? Oh! Yeah. Are you?"

"Sure, I'll call for a taxi."

"Ok... And, Misty?" He still stared at her.

"What?"

"You look... pretty good."

"...Oh, thank you very much, Ash. You're really sweet_._"

She tried to hide her blush as she went to make the phone call.

The taxi arrived faster than they had expected, and Ash rushed to open the door, but didn't get in. He spoke to Misty with a playful smile.

"You go first, Milady."

"Oh, thanks, Milord_._" What a gentleman, she thought.

When they arrived, Ash paid for the travel and the tickets. Misty could do nothing but keep smiling at him. Soon they got into the theatre and Ash looked for the perfect place to sit. He had already thought of everything, and Misty had no idea what she'd got herself into with a simple invitation to the movies.

"What about there, Misty?"

"Sure, it might have a good sight."

"Ok, come on." He quickly took a hold of her hand and ran hoping they get there before anyone else.

When they sat on the armchairs, Misty, who was at Ash's right, could notice that they were behind a teen couple. Just then the advertisements, that always seem to last an eternity, started to be seen on screen.

"Oh, not this again! Why do we always have to wait so much for what we come to see?" Actually, Ash's complaint was false, since everything was going perfectly according to his plan.

"Well Ash, it's just for some minutes."

"I've got an idea! Let's play something."

"You wanna play _now_? There's nothing to do here."

"Why not? Just let me think..." he said, but he didn't really have to think it at all. "Oh, I know!"

"What? Twister? Or hide and seek?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, I'm serious." He leaned to her ear to whisper. "Why don't we choose someone to imitate? Just like a competition game. Each of us chooses a person to imitate, and then we'll see who does it better. The loser then gives a prize to the winner, whatever they want... What do you say?"

She glared at him. "I say you must be kidding."

"Oh, come on, Misty. Please? I'm so bored."

She heaved a sigh. "...Fine, Ash."

"Great! I'll imitate..." His glance wandered around the place. "That child over there. And you?"

"... His mother, who's yelling at him right now."

"Well... I didn't do it, mom!" he said as an annoying kid. "You have to believe me!"

Despite thinking it was rather silly, Misty followed his game. "But I've just seen you! You already earned a punishment, kid!"

"No, I didn't stick the gum on the girl's hair! It was the other boy! I swear!" They chuckled.

"Shut up, you disrespectful little demon! Everybody's watching you cry as a baby! We're going home!"

"No, please, let me stay for the movie!"

They were having fun, until Misty felt the need to interrupt the lively exchange of words. "...Ash!"

"No, mom. I won't go outs-"

"Ash, shut up!" She had a worried expression.

"What?!"

"Everybody is looking at us! Even the real mom and kid... Say something!"

Ash realized some people were looking at them and he coughed out a nervous laugh. "Oh! Er, I'm sorry, Mrs. We didn't want to call the attention, or..."

"Or offend you!" Misty finished.

"That's right." They both nodded.

The woman accepted their apology and sat down. Both Ash and Misty sighed in relief.

"Oh, my Gosh! We might look so ridiculous," Misty said.

"Yeah... and we don't even know who won the game."

"I did! Because I discovered that they were looking at us, and of course, I'm an excellent actress."

"Yes, sure... Well, the movie hasn't started yet, so let's play once more." He had to make her agree to one more round, since the first one was only a warm up for what was to come.

"And we'll be the make me laugh again."

"We won't if we change the characters."

"But we have to choose someone who's not yelling or shouting."

"I propose those two," he said, pointing at the pair below them.

"But, Ash. They're probably a couple."

"They don't really look like a couple to me," he lied."I didn't see them hugging or anything. Maybe they are just good friends, like you and I."

"…I don't know."

Suddenly a voice was heard in all the theatre. _Barner Brothers Pictures, presents_...

"Misty, the movie's starting. Just say you'll play and I won't bother anymore. Alright?"

"...Oh, alright Ash." She couldn't help but wonder what he was up to.

"Great!"

As the movie was playing Ash and Misty payed attention to both the screen and the couple at the same time. There were moments where they only watched fully entertained, but there were others where...

"Misty, look!" He whispered to her. The boy below them made a slow movement that didn't go unnoticed by Ash.

"Yeah, I know."

"Ok, I won't lose this one..."

At first, he just took a hold of her hand, and that was fine with Misty. But then, things became more intense. Slowly, he started to put his arm around her back, slightly touching her hair. All was exactly as those two people, or better. Misty just let him go ahead, thinking that maybe that would be her only opportunity to be so close to him.

"This is getting so weird..." She said in a low voice.

"Yes, isn't it? But anyway I wanna keep on playing so that I can claim my prize later."

"It's fine, I'm just saying that it isn't what I expected."

"Look, they're moving again..."

Misty felt she was in Heaven when Ash pulled her head to his chest, and started to get lost in his warmth. From that moment, the voices of the characters of the movie were only background music to her. And since she had no choice, she also embraced him and raised up her face to look right into his eyes. Just then, they both forgot about the imitating game, and continued their own way. Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing. Misty was so close to him, anybody else there could swear they were about to kiss. She slowly closed her eyes and wished he kissed her, and Ash knew what her gesture meant. He put one hand on her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and then the same hand began to move down, barely touching her cheek, ending with his fingers on her warm lips. She seemed to like the contact, and suddenly kissed in a very sweet way each and every one of Ash's fingers. Then she held strongly his hand with hers and took it to her heart. Ash was completely red and surprised by her behaviour, but she couldn't notice it because of the darkness. He had no doubt that this was his opportunity. He'd thought this could be his chance to try to kiss her, because he'd planned that game on purpose. But he never imagined it would end up this way. Nevertheless, yet with his hand on her heart, he moved to make those two centimeters of distance disappear. Misty was looking at him a playful, big smile. She closed her eyes again when she saw Ash willing to kiss her. The butterflies inside were eating them alive. _Ok, it's now or never_, he thought. Then he separated a little his lips to give his true love their very first kiss, and leaned over her.


	3. Questions And Answers

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 3: Questions And Answers

Misty's heart was beating fast, awaiting that special kiss. But suddenly, she snapped back to reality and realized there was a very important reason for her not to kiss him. She avoided Ash's lips just in time and moved to whisper something in his ear.

"She's gone."

His advance was abruptly stopped. "What?"

"The girl I'm imitating, Ash. She just disappeared and I didn't notice," she explained.

"So what?! I don't care!"He said, quite annoyed.

"I can't do anything if she's not here. We can't go on playing."

"Misty... she left about five minutes ago."

"Then why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because..." he hesitated. "I don't know."

"...Ok. I'm leaving."

"Why? Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. Maybe that's where the girl went, to her house."

"And you'll leave me here alone?"

"The boy you're imitating was left alone, so it's not my fault. I'm sorry."

"Misty...!"

"Enjoy the film," she told him, before turning around and leaving the theatre at a quick pace, not looking behind to see the boy she had just disappointed.

"Yeah, as if I could..." He sighed in irritation, sinking into the chair with his arms crossed.

Misty arrived to the gym feeling really sad, but with the satisfaction to know she'd done the right thing. Yes, she wanted to kiss him, but not if something so important was missing. Then the phone started to ring again, scaring her, and she silently cursed it before picking it up.

"Hello."

"Hi sister, it's Lily here. How are you?"

"...I'm fine, but I thought I wouldn't hear from you until tomorrow. Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes. It's just that I received an e-mail from your friend Brock. He invited me to the Christmas party Prof. Oak is going to organize."

"Really? We were going to ask you tomorrow if you wanted to go. Daisy and Violet can go too, but I don't feel like calling them right now..."

"I'll talk to them, don't worry. Oh, and I'm not going home. It would be convenient for me to go straight to Pallet."

"But where will you stay?"

"I have a friend there who wouldn't have any problems if I stayed with her. By the way, Brock said he's staying at Ash's house."

"Well, then we should go tomorrow too. I have to tell Ash about it."

"Ok... I have to hang up now, but I'll see you soon Misty."

"Yeah, see you Lily" she said, before hanging up.

Misty wasn't fine yet, so she went to her room to calm down, falling fast asleep. When Ash arrived, the sky was already dark, and he unintentionally made some loud noises opening the main door, waking Misty up. He had felt rejected, but still he wanted to understand why she reacted the way she did. He went to her room to talk about it and know if she had any excuse to leave him like that. He knocked twice but he didn't get an answer, so he decided to enter her bedroom, only to find her lying on her bed, drying her tears.

He frowned, worried. "Are you Ok?"

"Yeah, perfectly," she lied, sitting on the bed. "How did the movie end?"

"Oh, come on, Misty. You're not _perfectly_. I know something happened to you."

"Something like what?"

"I don't know... Something that made you run away when everything was fine."

"Ash..." she looked at him, exhausted. Didn't he realize what they could have done? "We were about to kiss! ...And that girl wasn't there anymore."

"I know!... Wait a minute. Do you think I was still playing?!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why? Weren't you?"

"You know I wasn't, and neither were you!"

"What are you talking about, Ash? I was just following the rules!"

"There were no rules, Misty! And it wasn't a game either. It was just an excuse to get to... forget it," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What do you mean it wasn't a game?"

"It doesn't matter anymore!" he half shouted angrily, walking towards the door.

Misty stood up to confront him. "Yes, it matters to me! If it wasn't a game then why did you touch me like that?!"

"Because I knew you wanted me to, and don't tell me you didn't like it!"

"I didn't!"

"Yes, you did! If not, why did you kiss me?"

"I never kissed you!"

"You kissed my fingers!"

"Ok, that's not what I thought you would call a kiss!" she said in her defense.

Ash sighed, now calmed. "...Exactly. Misty, you are my best friend. You know I want you very much... And if there's anything you want to talk about, I'll be glad to listen."

She showed him a serious expression. "Why did you suddenly change the subject?"

"I didn't change it. I just think that maybe you need some time to think why you didn't kiss me when you could really have."

She looked at him astonished, her mouth open in surprise. "...Excuse me?!"

"You already heard."

Oh, Gosh, she couldn't believe it. Was that the Ash Ketchum she knew? He had never said anything in that tone before. He'd just said she could have kissed him, but she had to ruin it all by abandoning him in that place. Was it possible? She brought her attention back to him again, and he seemed to be packing some clothes in his bag, but what for?

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going back to Pallet Town."

"But we're going tomorrow. Lily called and said--"

"You go tomorrow if you want," he interrupted her, "but I'm going now."

"Ash, I--"

"Don't say anything, Misty. We'll be able to talk in Pallet."

Misty stood still all the time as she saw Ash getting ready to leave. Once he was done, he took the bag next to the main door in the hall, leaving her to her thoughts in the bedroom. He decided to go to say goodbye to her, but when he turned around, he saw Misty was already there, staring at him. He flinched at the sight of sadness in her eyes.

"Well... I'm leaving now, Misty," he told her.

"I see..."

Unexpectedly, she ran up to Ash and embraced him like there was no tomorrow.

"Don't leave, Ash. Please. Don't leave me alone," she begged, unsuccessfully trying to hold back her tears.

He felt the urge to comfort her, and returned the embrace. "...It'll better for both of us, Misty. I'm not leaving you forever; it's just for one day," he held a chuckle.

"Anyway, please. I'm really sorry for what I said. I always knew it wasn't a... I mean, I think I wasn't playing either. I'm sorry..."

"Can you tell me now what happened to you?"

"Can we please stay like this without speaking a word?"

"...I don't know. I really don't like the part of not speaking a word," he told her, but the moment he saw her face he just had to give it up. "But... well, fine, Misty. I think we can talk about it later. I'm staying."

"Thank you so much!" she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Ash took her hand and walked to the nearest couch, inviting her to sit down next to him. "So..."

"Can I ask you something, Ash?"

"Sure, what?"

"...Why did you come back so late? I mean... the movie ended long ago."

"Uhm... I just wanted to walk and see the Christmas's decorations of the shops..."

He didn't lie, but the real reason was he'd been doing some Christmas shopping. If Misty knew it, she wouldn't forgive him for not telling her to go with him, but by no means could he let her know what he had bought for her. She would just have to wait.

"Uh, Ok. Were they nice?"

"Yeah..."

She didn't stand the awkward silence that started to grow, specially after everything that happened during the day, so she just kept talking. "...I've been thinking... you know, about what happened at the cinema... have you ever acted that way? Have you ever... caressed a girl?"

The question totally took him by surprise and his cheeks became instantly red. "...No. I haven't."

"So... you never kissed one, did you?" Ash shook his head in denial. She could have been the first, she thought. He tried not to look at her but his eyes kept slipping back to her face. "Oh, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with my questions, I didn't realize--"

"No, it's Ok. I can ask you too, right?"

"Yes... you can ask anything you want."

"Well... there's something but…"

"Come on!"

"...Misty, are you in love?"

The question almost left her speechless, but she knew it wouldn't be fair not to answer him. "...Well, uhm... I think... I am." She stared into his eyes before nodding. "Yeah, definitely. Are you?" she asked, hopeful.

"Yes, I am," he said. His tone was firm, holding nothing but truth.

"Have you told her already?"

"Not yet, have you told him?"

"No."

"Do you think I should tell her?"

"Only if you think you'd be fine if she rejected you."

"It's that... I think she does feel the same but she's afraid of telling me."

Obviously, Ash was talking about Misty, and Misty was talking about Ash. But despite the little incident a few hours ago, they weren't sure of each other's feelings. However, Misty thought of the possibility of being the person Ash wanted, since she was also afraid of telling him the truth. If that was the case, then she would cheer him to confess his heart out.

"Well, in that case, you should do it. I think it's important to take the risk to know if she feels the same for you."

"Yeah, I see..." he studied the ceiling, then continued speaking. "Hey, you know, I have a doubt."

"What?"

"Don't you feel uncomfortable being like this with me? So... close?"

"No. We're best friends. We're only hugging, not kissing, are we?"

"Of course," he chuckled. "And to think we actually almost..." His words drifted away as they both now felt indeed uncomfortable.

"I still wonder what could have happened if I hadn't left at that exact moment."

"Who knows?" Obviously, they knew. "It never crossed my mind that you would leave the theatre. And that game... who was the winner at the end?"

"I was. I realized that the girl wasn't there anymore. So I must claim my prize."

"Not so fast. I followed each and every move the boy did, so I deserve it more than you do."

"So, what do you suggest? An other round?"

"No, something better. Let's decide it with a tic-tac-toe."

She laughed. "Just like that? ...Well, fine. I don't mind."

They looked for two pens and a paper and played for a minute, and finally Ash won with three crosses across the grid.

"Yeah! I won! Nobody can beat me!"

"Ok, but don't be so credulous..." she said before biting her lower lip.

"Now I have to think of my prize." His eyes grew distant, and he started to tap the pen on the table.

"So? What do you want?"

"Anything, right?"

"Right. What is it?" It couldn't be that bad, now could it?

"Well, it's something easy, really. You'll just have to help me with a little revenge."

"Revenge? On who?"

"Oh, you know him. Actually we're good friends now, but there's something he did to me some time ago, and though it was very silly, I'd like to play a little joke on him too."

"Let me guess... Gary?"

"Yeah."

"What did he do to you?"

"Uhm, it's complicated to explain. It doesn't really matter. Just say you'll help me and then I'll give you the details."

Misty still had in her mind what happened a few hours ago. But she thought it would be good to distract with something else, so she accepted.

"Ok. I just hope you won't get me into trouble, Ash."

"No, Misty, I won't," or at least he would try not to.

"Alright. You can count on me."

"Thank you very much!"

"Well, what is it about?"

"It's about letters. Love letters."

She frowned. "Love letters? I don't understand."

"Ok, listen. You'll use those romantic ideas of yours to write some letters to Gary and make him think some girl likes him. And that's it."

"And what's that for?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure."

"So can I."

"Ash!" He chuckled.

"Come on. We need to hurry up and start writing."

"Why so fast?"

"Because I want to send it to him tomorrow. And after one or two more letters we'll tell him the truth just before Christmas. I'd like to see his face once he finds it out!"

"I really don't think it's a good idea, Ash. And about telling him, it's not _we_, it's _you_who'll do it because it's your joke, not ours. I wouldn't be part of this if it weren't for that silly tic-tac-toe. You know he'll probably be furious."

"You're right, but I don't care if he'll be mad at this or not. I'm taking revenge, remember? He started it."

"Yeah, whatever."


	4. Encounters

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 4: Encounters

Misty was sitting at the dinner table with a pen in hand. She hesitated about the first lines of the letter since she wasn't quite sure what the message Ash wanted to deliver was.

"Ok... so how should I start this?" she asked him.

"Well, you can start with _Dear Gary_..."

"Oh, really?" she asked sarcastically. "Then what?"

"_I'm secretly in love with you, I think you're awesome and I wanna meet you... yours truly... signed by somebody_."

Misty grimaced. "Ash, I don't know if that sounds too desperate or is just too short. Don't you think Gary would most likely ignore this person?"

"Yeah, well... I'm just kidding of course." He scratched his head in an attempt to not make it noticeable that he actually meant what he'd said. "I mean, if you're going to confess your feelings, there definitely has to be more to it than a few words, right?"

Misty raised an eyebrow. "I think you just have no idea about this sort of things."

"Are you saying I can't be romantic?"

She rolled her eyes. "I am not..." she started her sentence, but then she changed her mind. "Well yes, yes I am."

"Then you don't know me at all!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Well, maybe I can't be romantic because I never had the chance to be so!"

There was silence. Ash suddenly felt quite awkward, and Misty knew exactly what he meant by those last words. She had been lately refusing him whenever he tried to be sweet to her. He had no chance to show her what he was capable of since she would only stop him from doing so. She felt guilty for that, and she was so uncomfortable she didn't even notice that Ash was no longer there. She wondered what would be crossing his mind at the moment. But that was not the time to think about it; she had made a deal and she would stick to it. For someone like her a love letter would take no longer than a quarter hour.

--

When she was done, she started to pack up to go to Pallet Town, and Ash called the professor to tell him they were leaving the next morning, but someone else answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Tracy? It's Ash."

"Oh, hey Ash! It's been so long since we last talked. How are you guys doing?"

"We're fine. How about you?"

"Fine, thanks. So what's up?"

"Just calling to let Professor Oak know we're going tomorrow to Pallet."

"Ok, great. Professor Oak is not here now, but I'll tell him when he's back."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, really. He's been going out quite often, and he doesn't say where he goes."

"Well, that's strange."

"You tell me. He might have a girlfriend or something."

"You're kidding," Ash said almost choking. "Professor Oak has a girlfriend?"

"I'm not sure. But thinking about it, that wouldn't be a surprise. You know he lost his wife many years ago, so why wouldn't he?"

"Yes, you're right."

"Hey, did you know Brock is here in Pallet?"

"Yeah. Misty told me. She said Lily and him are going together to the party. Kind of a date, I guess."

"Right... wait a minute..." Ash heard how a Jigglypuff was asking Tracy for something. "Well, I guess I'm a bit busy Ash. Let's keep talking tomorrow."

"Sure, see you then, Tracy."

"Bye."

Ash hung up the phone. Tonight he was on charge of the food, so he went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat, where Misty was feeding some pokémon. Ignoring the earlier discussion, she took the letter she had previously written from her pocket and gave it to Ash to read it, which he thought couldn't be any better. With her Politoed sitting on her lap, Misty then started to call some of her neighbours to ask if any of them could look after the gym while they were gone. Finally an old friend from the block agreed to help her with it, just before Ash announced dinner was ready.

--

It was 21st when Ash and Misty left Cerulean City and headed for Pallet Town. They took a bus that took them as near as possible to Pallet's centre, and then they walked for about an hour. It could have been a tiring journey for anyone, considering they also carried their bags. But not for them. They were so used to this it felt like a simple walk.

Ash was eager to see his mother again. The first thing they did was visiting her, but apparently she wasn't home, since someone else opened the door, surprising them.

"Lily!"

"Misty! Ash, what a surprise. How are you?"

"We're fine," Ash said. "But what are you doing here?"

"Ash! My old friend, how have you been?" a familiar voice asked.

"Brock! Hey, it's great to see you."

"Thanks, the same to you. What were you both doing all this time?"

"Well, if I started I would never finish..." Misty said happily.

"But don't stay out there, come on in!"

"Sure, this is still my home, isn't it?" Ash asked.

"It sure is. But I think we're gonna share it during Christmas."

They all smiled and got inside. They talked about the things they had been doing and how Lily met Brock without anyone's notice. Apparently they became very close friends. Somewhat later they heard the sound of keys from the other side of the door, and Ash knew exactly who that was. His eyes shone like when he was a little child, whenever his mother came back from shopping or after a day of tea and chat with her neighbours.

"Mom!" he said almost shouting, and welcomed her with a warm hug.

"Oh, my! Ash, you're back!"

"Hey... so how are you?"

"Aw, I missed you so much."

"Me too."

He let her go, and only then she saw the others were there too.

"Oh, hello everyone."

"Good morning, Mrs. Ketchum," they all replied as in a chorus.

Delia put her attention on one at a time.

"Hi, Misty. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. And how is your Mr. Mime?"

"Oh, right...!" she said surprised as if she had forgotten something. She opened fully the door which had been ajar since she entered the house, and there he was, poor Mr. Mime, carrying the bags of food for the next two days. "Sorry about that, Mimy."

Mr. Mime didn't mind and went straight to the kitchen, he just wanted to get rid of the heavy stuff.

"Well..." she tried to ignore what had just happened, and continued to ask. "And how's work going?"

"It's going great, mom," Ash answered. "We have hundreds of battles."

She grinned. "I see... I'm glad you're having a good time, hon." Then she turned to the other girl. "And you must be Lily."

"Yes, I am. Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Pleased to meet you too... I suppose you're staying here for the next days?"

"Oh, no, I'm staying at a friend's."

"Ok, but remember you're always welcome," Delia told her flashing a smile.

"Thank you," Lily nodded.

"How about you, Misty?"

"I guess I'm staying here." She said.

"Good, I'd love to have you all here... Brock, now you'll have some more company."

"Yeah, that will be great." He said "But it's a pity that Lily's not staying with us."

"Never mind, Brock. I'll come to visit you," Lily said.

They all had lunch, and talked about the many things that had been happening with everyone. It was a lovely meal, with that familiar and warm feeling one can have only at home. Ash remembered something Misty had told him once. When you are hanging out with your friends, no matter how long it had been without seeing each other, it will feel as if you've never been apart. And how right she was when she said that, he thought.

When it was time to do the dishes, someone else joined the party. Satsuki, Lily's friend, arrived to the Ketchum's residence. But she wasn't alone, she brought her younger sister with her, who was immediately recognized by Misty.

"Sakura!"

"Misty, hi! What are you doing here?"

"This is Ash's house."

"Oh, right, I remember now. Tracy told me so when we walked around the place."

"Tracy? You two are _very_ close friends, aren't you?"

They both started to laugh. Lily and Satsuki greeted each other and looked surprised at their sisters.

"Hey, don't tell me you know each other," Lily said.

"Actually, they do," Ash interrupted. "Brock and I met them too when we were in Johto."

"Oh, I see," she said.

"Lily, I came to pick you up," Satsuki said. "Are you coming?"

"Yes, but hold on a second while I go to look for my things."

"Sure... Sakura, do you want Misty to come with us?"

"Yes, that would be great! Do you want to, Misty?" Sakura asked.

"Maybe tomorrow. I'm a little tired."

"But I mean you can spend the next days at my house, instead of here."

"Oh... I don't know. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we'll have lots of fan, I promise," Sakura said smiling happily at her.

"Go, Misty. We can all meet tomorrow and go out," Ash told her.

"Ok. Let me go for my bag," she said. "Mrs. Ketchum, Brock, I'm sorry I can't stay much longer with you."

"Don't worry about it, we'll survive," Brock joked.

Misty bit her lower lip, but giggled too. "Right."

The girls left, and Ash and Brock decided to go for a walk. They went along the open country and sat down on the grass under a pair of trees. Brock bowed his head and smiled as wanting to speak about something specific:

"You know, Ash. I think I want her..."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Lily."

"Oh, really? You like every girl you see," Ash said, disregarding him.

"I know, but I mean it this time. I liked all those girls because they are beautiful, but this is different. Now I can only think about her."

"So you mean... you're in love with her?"

"Yes, that's exactly it. I know you may not understand me, but I really feel there's no other than her now, she's so... well... unique."

"Brock, I do know how you feel... I think."

"What? Don't tell me you like Lily too!"

Ash laughed. "Of course not. It's someone else."

"Seriously? Do I know her?"

Ash didn't answer. He just looked at Brock with some blush on his cheeks and a timid smile. Brock nodded in understanding, and thought to himself that it was about time. As Ash was still silent, Brock continued the conversation.

"It's Misty, isn't she?"

Ash sighed. "Yes, it's her."

"I knew it. Well, tell me about it."

"I don't know what to say, Brock. It's so strange, because... we have always been friends... I didn't understand what was happening to me until a few months ago. When I realized I wanted to be yet closer to her, and cross the friendship barrier we've had for years..."

"And you never told her about it?"

"Well... no. But... I think she might know... a little. I mean, I'm not sure if she noticed it too, but our relationship isn't one of simple friends anymore, I can tell you that."

"And how's that?"

Ash told his friend about the many times that he played with Misty tickling each other laughing uncontrollably. The times when they walked down the street holding hands, and some other things like that. But he didn't mention the discussions they'd been recently having because he knew they would end pretty soon. Brock came into realization that Ash was not the only one who was in love. Based on what Ash was telling him, he knew Misty most probably liked him too. Still, he didn't want to tell his friend about it, because he thought Ash should find it out by himself.

When they arrived back home, they were surprised to find Delia standing in the middle of the living room, quiet, as if she had been waiting for them to return.

Brock whispered to Ash. "What did you do now?"

Ash narrowed his eyes to him. "Nothing... I think."

"Ash..." Delia called.

"Yes?" he asked, before gulping. Her eyes were shining, but at the same time she seemed a bit worried, and he wondered why.

"Can I talk to you in private? It won't take long."

"Sure."

Brock had to wait for them downstairs, while Ash and his mother went to her bedroom. What she had to tell him was probably something very important.


	5. Moving On

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 5: Moving On

Ash was eager to know what was going on and walked behind his mother in silence until they reached her private quarters. The room was decorated with a flowery wallpaper and transparent curtained windows that led to a little balcony through which the sunlight bathed the place. After closing the door behind them she sat down on the edge of her bed, and Ash followed suit, the mistery of the situation eating at him.

"I'm sorry I brought you here and you had to leave Brock behind, but there's something I've been wanting to tell you," she said.

"It's ok, he won't mind. But what is it, mom? Is something wrong?" He noticed her hesitating before she continued talking.

"Ash, you know... well... it's been a long time since your father died."

Ash startled for a second but then lowered his head. The topic took him by surprise, and it was always sadening to be reminded of the parental figure he had lost so long ago, but he wanted to keep the conversation going and nodded at Delia. "Yes," he muttered.

"I know how much you miss him, and believe me, I miss him so much too..." Silence fell over them. When she knew her son would not respond to her words, she gained the courage to continue. "I've been feeling... alone these past few years."

Ash's head tilted up. "Alone? Is it because I'm always travelling? I'm sorry, I can-"

"No, you have nothing to do with this, hon," she interrupted him. "I'm not talking about any kind of company... I'm talking about someone who could stand by me the same way your dad did."

"As... in a couple?"

She smiled a little. "Yes, exactly. I love your father till this very day, but that doesn't mean I have to grieve for him my entire life. I'm still alive and I have to move on, don't you think?"

"Sure, sure, that's true," he agreed.

"Ash, what I'm going to say is very important to me and I hope you understand."

Ash was digging his nails into his jeans. "Mom, I'm dying with anticipation here. Just say it already!"

Delia couldn't help but laugh at his distress, her son would always be the impatient kind. She decided to drop the bomb. "Well, for a couple of months now... I've been seeing someone else."

"What?" he asked, astonished. "Is that true?" He narrowed his eyes. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, Ash. I'm not kidding. Is it so hard to believe?"

He thought about it for a moment. "...Well, no. Not really, I mean... well, it is kinda shocking, though." He looked into her eyes and noticed her uneased expression. He grinned. "But I'm happy for you, mom," he reassured her. "I'm glad you told me this, it's great news."

Her smile came back, wider than before. Both of her hands took one of his as she said, "Oh, Ash. I'm glad you're taking it so well. I was scared you might not accept it. Thank you so much, son."

"Well, why wouldn't I take it well? I only want the best for you, mom. And if this makes you happy..." Delia was about to say something but he spoke first. "So, who is he?" He was in a totally different mood now and his spirit of curious boy was back.

"You'll know that at the Christmas party, Ash. I promise."

"What? Why can't you just tell me now?"

"Well, can you keep a secret?" she asked.

"Sure," he said, his eyes growing big.

"So can I," she responded, winking an eye at him.

"Oh, man!" He protested as he heard her giggle. But he soon joined her at it, though. Not long ago, he had done the same thing to Misty. Now he remembered who he had heard it from originally.

Ash was soon downstairs again and proceeded to tell the news to Brock as his mother began the preparations for the evening meal. Had their conversation lasted half a minute longer, they would have been interrupted by the knocks at the door. When the oldest of the pair opened it he was rewarded with a familiar face.

"Tracy!" Ash and Brock said in unison.

"Hi, guys. I heard you were home already, Ash, and I thought I should visit."

"Yeah, we arrived this morning," Ash said. Brock and him moved to the left so their guest could get inside.

"So how's everything?"

"Just fine... nothing new since we last talked. Did you know anything about Professor Oak's misterious friend?"

"Nothing but the fact that they went out on a date this morning."

"Wow, now we have two people to meet: his girlfriend, and mom's boyfriend."

"Your mother's boyfriend?"

"Yes, she has just told me about it, but I still don't know who the guy is."

Brock had been silently listening to them as his thoughts worked around the matter. "Wait a second!" he said in a loud tone. "So you're saying that both Professor Oak _and_ Mrs. Ketchum have new partners?"

Tracy felt like kicking himself. "Of course! I should have known!"

"I don't understand," Ash said confused. He was looking from one boy to the other. "What's going on, guys?"

Brock and Tracy exchanged looks as they silently agreed on not telling Ash about what they suspected. If Mrs. Ketchum was actually dating Professor Oak, he should learn about it from them first and not from his wiser friends. It would be the right thing to keep their mouths shut for the moment. Tracy said something quickly to dismiss the subject.

"Nothing, it's just an interesting coincidence, don't you think?"

"Well, it sure is. But I thought you knew something else."

"I don't know what made you think so, Ash," Brock said.

Tracy was invited to spend the night over at the Ketchums'. It was a boys-only pajama party later on when they were all in their respective beds before surrendering to sleep as they chatted enthusiasmically about girls. Ash and Brock got Tracy up to date with what they had talked about earlier, about one of them liking Lily, the other one liking Misty. But to their surprise, Tracy told them that he was also developing some kind of relationship with Sakura and, unlike Ash and Brock, at least he had succeeded on asking her out a couple of times already. He also told them he was planning on telling her about his feelings soon, which made Ash think about his own dilemma.

Misty and him had been very close friends for years now. How would she react if she knew he was falling in love with her? Would she jump in his arms? Would she run away? Would she just turn him down and leave him to his misery? No. He knew Misty; she wasn't one to hurt others' feelings if she could help it. He would have to gather up his courage and confess it all eventually. He could only hope for the best, but get ready for the worst just in case. If things don't turn out the way he expected them, at least, with time, their friendship could go back to normal... Right?

The next morning, Mrs. Ketchum was nowhere to be found, but Brock saw the sticky note on the fridge informing them that she wouldn't be back until noon. However, it was two hours after that when she finally showed up. Ash was the only one home at the moment; Tracy was at the cinema with Sakura and Brock had gone to the town market. She went upstairs to her bedroom and, some minutes later, she called for her son to join her for yet an other conversation. This time, when Ash arrived at the doorway, he spotted a square lavender box lying on the bed behind his mother.

"What is it, mom? What do you need?" he asked her.

"Come in, sit," she said patting the bed.

Ash sighed but did as he was told. "Is this about what you told me yesterday? You know, you could just say it all at once instead of giving me a peace of information each day."

Delia raised an eyebrow. "Ash, you don't even know what I'm going to say."

He laughed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, right."

She rolled her eyes and continued. "Well, I've been thinking..." she paused for some seconds. "We have talked about moving on and, you'll see, in order to do so I think it's time I pass this to you." She took the square box in her hands and held it in front of Ash. "I've had it for years, it originally belonged to your paternal grandmother."

Ash studied the object before grabbing it from his mother. She nodded once and motioned for him to open it to see what was kept inside. An antique, white pearl necklace was revealed, the finesse of each big sphere made it the perfect accesory for the most demanding, elegant lady. Ash didn't say anything at first, he just stared in awe at the jewel. It was breath-taking.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Delia asked. Ash only nodded in agreement. "Your father gave it to me long ago."

"This must be priceless for you."

She raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath in. "It is priceless, indeed. And it means a lot to me, too... But I want you to have it now."

Ash frowned. "Uhm... well, it's nice and all but I wouldn't wear it."

His mother laughed out loud. "I wasn't expecting you to, silly."

"...Oh."

"You'll see, this is a family jewel from your father's side. Someday there will be someone special for you to whom you could give it as a gift. Until then, please keep it safe. And make sure you won't regret giving it away once you think you have found that person. If it turns out being the wrong one, there might be no return of the necklace."

Ash was speechless, there were many thoughts dancing around in his head. He nodded in understandment.

"Well, this was about it. I'll be downstairs doing the laundry if you need me," she informed him.

"Uh... sure." His mother stood up and started to walk away but he suddenly called her attention again. "Mom?"

She turned to him. "Yes?"

"...Thank you."

She smiled at her son. Ash was a grown teenager by now but he could still be adorable. "You're welcome," she replied softly, and finally left the room.

Ash remained silent, staring at the precious jewel in his hands. He remembered the words of his mother, _someday there will be someone special for you_, and immediately Misty's image invaded his mind. Delia had no idea that the day she talked about had already arrived.

He imagined Misty wearing the necklace, and her possible reaction towards the whole situation, once he gifts it to her. It would be a great opportunity to confess his feelings, and finally unburden himself of all the stress it had been causing him to keep them as a secret.

Still, there were certain things that made him hesitate about telling her. If he did, he would finally now how she feels in return. But if it wasn't actually reciprocal, then... No, he thought. He shouldn't, couldn't let his fears prevent him from doing it. If he didn't tell her, then he would never see the end of it. Misty had to know the truth, and she would have to know it soon, or else Ash would be consumed by it.

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted when he heard the main door open, and for a moment his stomach clenched with doubt and dread as his newfound courage drifted away. He quickly got off the bed and took the box to put it in a safe place in his own room. A second after he was done Brock entered the place as well. Ash needed to talk and get some advise, and he felt relieved to see his friend arrive at the right time.

"Hey, Brock. Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked him.

"Yeah, sure Ash."

"Well, if you were me, what would you do? Do you think I should tell her or not?"

"You mean Misty?"

"Yes."

"I think you should-"

"Because I really wanna tell her," Ash interrupted. "But if she didn't feel the same, I wouldn't like to know."

"So why don't you-?"

"Anyway, sooner or later I'll know, right? I mean, she could go out with someone else and that would be it. The thing is, I know she has been asked out on dates and she always rejected the invitations. I suppose that's because none of those guys were the one she likes."

"Maybe-"

"Besides, if I got this done and over with I could stop dwelling on it, knowing the truth, whatever it may be."

"Sure, then-"

"I should make up my mind and get ready to do it, right?"

"Right, and-"

"Great! It's all decided now. And thank you very much, Brock. I couldn't have taken the decision if it wasn't for your help."

"...Whenever."

Ash was definitely decided to say all the truth. Though he could receive lots of bad things as an answer, he only thought about the good ones, and didn't really take a long time to call her. Immediately after Brock left the room, he went downstairs to use the videophone and invite her to go to his house.

"Oh, hi Ash! I was just about to call you. Satsuki agreed to invite you all for dinner here tonight."

"Sounds great. Brock is helping mum with the lunch, and Tracy hasn't arrived yet, he's still with Sakura, so I'll tell them later."

"You know, I think they really like each other," she said smiling.

"Yeah, me too."

"So, what were you calling for?"

"Well..." he hesitated, but quickly came up with an answer. "I was just a bit bored and I wanted to speak about anything."

"Fine. Have you sent Gary's letter yet?"

His eyes grew big for a second, and Misty could swear she also heard him gasp. "Oh no, I totally forgot about it!"

"What? You had enough time, Ash, what have you been doing?"

"I don't know, I guess I'll have to go now. Do you wanna come?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. There are some things I have to do first."

"Ok, nevermind... See you tonight, then."

"See you," she said, before her image on the videophone disappeared.

How could he have forgotten about his own revenge joke? He'd better send the letter soon or everything would be in vain. He didn't invite Misty to his house because he thought it would be better to give her the necklace that night. So now that he had some free time before lunch, he would try to pay a little visit to Gary's mail box without being seen, and why not, buy some Christmas presents. He hadn't thought about what to buy to everyone, except for Misty. She wouldn't resist to his present, he was had been hiding it for a while now, not telling a soul about it, fearing that the information might leek and reach her knowledge. He wouldn't forgive himself if that happened. So he took the letter and some of his money and left the house to do what he needed to do, while anticipating the events to come at night.


	6. Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 6: Escape

Sakura opened the door and the fresh air of winter caressed her face as she let the boys enter the house. She sweetly smiled to Tracey and offered them something to drink, while Ash and Brock neared the table where Misty, Lily, Satsuki and Gary were playing cards.

"Hey, guys. Can we join the game?" Ash asked.

"This will be over in a minute or two, but you can sit here until we're done," Misty answered.

"Alright," he said, and they all sat at the table. "Gary, I didn't know you were coming too."

"Yeah, well. Satsuki invited me this evening, how could I refuse?"

"Do you need any help with the food?" Brock asked.

"No, thanks. We've already made some pizzas," Satsuki told him.

"Actually..." Lily began. "Since there's no dessert yet, would you help me with it, Brock?"

"Of course, I'd love to!"

Brock stood up and followed Lily to the kitchen, happy expressions present on both their faces.

"Sakura, tell me... How's your Espeon? I haven't seen it yet," Misty commented.

"Oh, it's fine, thank you. It's resting now, we had some hard training this morning."

"Hey, Sakura. When was the last time you and Misty had a pokémon battle? You should come to the gym someday and have a good one. I could fight you too," Ash proposed.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. You can come whenever you want," Misty told her.

Strange sounds came from the kitchen. Everyone in the living room heard laughter and screamings.

"Is everything alright, guys?" Satsuki shouted loud enough for Brock and Lily to hear.

"Yeah, don't worry! Everything's like, too perfect here!" Brock shouted back, unconsciously picking up Lily's vocabulary. Ash and Misty noticed this, and they both giggled.

"Those two, huh? Who would have guessed?" Gary asked.

"Oh, it makes me wanna have someone too," Satsuki said.

"Well, you never know. It could happen soon."

She wasn't sure, but Satsuki thought for a moment that Gary had winked at her as he said so.

They talked for about half an hour until they all sat at the table and had dinner.

"So, Ash. What's up in your life?" Gary asked.

"Well..."

He looked at Misty. Lately everything about him was directly linked to her. They lived and worked together and, he hoped, they would soon get even closer. She returned the look knowingly, waiting for him to speak.

"I could show you all my new pokémon I've caught these past few months."

"No, thank you," he said coldly. "I probably have one of each of those already."

Ash stiffened. "Uh, well... you know I've been helping Misty with the gym in Cerulean. It's actually more difficult than it seems, with all those responsibilities."

"But do you enjoy it?"

"Oh, sure! I mean, it's not like traveling around or being on a constant adventure, but I can train my pokémon there too, and I don't have to worry about localizing the nearest Pokémon Center or market store. There were times when I thought I would starve to death."

"I thought you'd consider that the fun part."

"Hmph. Well... I don't feel like traveling anymore since Pikachu left. Besides, at the gym I have great company," he said as he smiled at Misty, who noticed the melancholy in Ash's voice when he mentioned his very first pokémon.

"I'm sorry, Ash, but I get the impression that you're not in your element. You should still go to see the world, but if you don't want to travel again, that's fine, maybe you could do something else to vary, and get motivated. Some girlfriend would do you good, you know? Or do you have one already?"

Ash looked at Misty once more, searching for an answer in her eyes. He knew they weren't a couple but, they've been nearing that level, haven't they? However, he was not completely sure whether she would agree with that thought...

"No... not yet," he answered. "How about you?"

"Well, I've got my eyes set on someone... I just don't see why I should tell you about it."

Ash was left openmouthed and narrowed his eyes at Gary, who just guffawed at his rival. Again, Satsuki noticed something strange about Gary, as if the slight lift of his shoulder when he looked at her along with his smile meant he was trying to make some contact. And then she understood his unfriendly tone towards Ash was of no real importance, he just enjoyed kidding with him. Too bad Ash hadn't realized that yet.

"Alright, well..." Sakura decided to change the topic. "Tracey and I are planning on going to the cinema soon. Do you know any good movies to recommend to us?"

"We went to the cinema a couple days ago, right Misty?" Ash asked her.

"Yeah..."

"Oh? What did you see?"

"Hidden Feelings," Misty told her. "It's a romance, you probably heard about it."

"Yes, I did. What is it about? Did you like it?"

Both Ash and Misty stood speechless, thinking. They didn't know what to say, they didn't even know if they liked the film, for they hadn't actually seen it.

"...Hello?" Sakura called when they both seemed lost in their thoughts.

"Uh... yeah. It was good. I'll never forget what I felt while I saw that movie," Ash finally said, a clear nod to Misty in his tone.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really Ash? Then why don't you tell them the plot?" she challenged.

"Well... it was actually the best movie I've ever seen since I had never felt so identified with the characters."

"Wow, you deeply loved it," she joked.

"You loved it too..." he replied.

"I see it's good, but... what is it about?" Sakura insisted.

"Well, it's... about..."

Of course he would hesitate, he had no idea. Misty laughed, and he sighed. Fine, if Sakura wanted an answer, he would give her one, even if it had to be made up. After all, he did have something to say about it.

"It's about a girl who is in love with her best friend, then when things are going smoothly and he tries to kiss her, she chickens out and runs away!"

Misty scowled at Ash with a look that would have killed him if it were possible. He was obviously talking about her, not telling the plot of the story. It wasn't that he was angry at the situation, he was just confused, and a little disappointed to boot. So he dropped the hint, and she got it.

"So he wants to figure out why she did it," he finished.

"Oh, thank you for the information. Now I really want to see it," Sakura told him.

"You sure don't," Misty said a little tense. "It doesn't have a happy ending."

"Oh, but it's probably worth it," Tracey supposed.

"Not so much. Why don't you see any other? There have to be better ones. Don't you think, Ash?"

"...Sure," he agreed, not knowing why she had said that.

"Ok, then," Tracey said.

Later, while everyone was busy ending their dinner and talking, Ash tried to attract Misty's attention. Since he was sitting next to her, he held her hand under the table where no one could see them. She flinched at the contact, startled. At first she tried to ignore it, not reacting to it, but eventually she gave in, finding no real reason to feign indifference. She held his hand too. After all, whatever it was he was trying to do, she was loving it. She looked at him in a shy, sweet way, and genuinely wished he would never let go.

"Are you ok, Misty?" Sakura asked with a puzzled look.

"She looks like daydreaming," Lily teased.

Misty's head snapped up. "What?" she protested. "No, I'm not!"

After a short moment of giggles, everyone's attention went back to their own business. She leaned towards Ash when nobody was watching and used a very low voice so only he could hear.

"Follow me..."

"What? Where?" Ash asked in confusion.

"Excuse me," she raised her voice, now talking to everyone else. "I need to get some fresh air, do you mind if I go outside for a little while?"

"Oh, no problem," Sakura replied.

It actually pained her having to be the one to let go of his hand, but it was necessary. She stood up and exited the room, hoping Ash would go after her. She really needed to escape that place and talk to him.

Ash was clueless as to what she was thinking, but was definitely willing to know. He voiced the first excuse that came to his mind.

"Oh, no! I totally forgot! I had bought some chocolates to bring here, I can't believe I left them home," he told them, pretending deception.

"Oh, don't worry Ash. There will be another occasion," Brock consoled him.

"But I really wanted to eat them, they're so good," he insisted.

"So, what?"

"I'll go for them, I can't let them go to waste."

"You're going now? It's cold out there."

"I have my jacket. See you all later."

Ash left the house and met Misty on the street. They began to walk.

"Well... what was your excuse?" Misty asked.

"We're gonna have to go home for some chocolates my mom made this morning."

"Alright. Is she home now?"

"No, she's at her boyfriend's."

"What?" she asked in surprise, not sure she had listened correctly.

"Yeah, can you believe it?"

"Well, everyone deserves another chance, especially when it's about love."

"Wanna talk about it?"

She raised an eyebrow. "About your mom?"

"About love..."

His right arm circled her waist, holding her softly. Misty tried to hide her smile, but she didn't complain, relishing the feeling.

"About us," he continued.

Misty frowned. "Us...?" she asked nervously.

"You know... there's something you haven't told me yet."

"That is...?" she looked at him precautiously.

"You know exactly what it is... why did you refuse me back then, Misty?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ash... that again."

"Come on, you won't hold it back for long even if you wanted to."

"It's complicated... I really don't feel much like talking about it now... not today..." she paused. A shiver ran through her body. "Oh, can we keep on talking when we get there? I'm freezing..."

"Sure, but take this," he said as he put his jacket around her shoulders. "It's not much, but it may help."

She grinned. "Thank you."

From then on they didn't speak a word until they arrived to the house. Ash opened the door and let Misty get inside before him.

She softly sighed smiling. "It's so much warmer in here."

"Sure thing... I'll go to look for the chocolates before I forget. Sit down, I'll come back in a second."

"Ok."

Ash disappeared into the kitchen to be back shortly after with a little package containing the so-called chocolates, and two full glasses in his other hand. He sat next to Misty and offered her one of them.

"Here... I brought you orange juice."

"Oh, thanks."

They sat on the couch for a while, exchanging no words, only awkward silence. Once or twice their eyes met, but when he smiled at her she turned her head away, and when she looked back at him it seemed he had found the wall to be very interesting.

Then Ash remembered why they were even there, the little piece of jewel that was hidden... in the jacket hanging from her shoulders. He wanted to kick himself for his mistake, and made a mental note about not leaving presents in jackets that he could later lend to people. He tried to put his hand inside the pocket very slowly, hoping she wouldn't notice. But she moved, and his fingers lightly grazed her thigh; so much for him not wanting her to notice. Misty stood up, scandalized.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to grab something, but-"

She gasped indignantly. "Oh, so you _were_ trying to touch me, then."

"No, I wasn't!" he shouted pathetically. "It's just... there's something in that jacket I wanted to get. Don't be so happy, it wasn't my intention to touch you."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time, you know. You're starting to act like Brock the more I think about it."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please... Misty, I don't want to argue now. Really, there's something in that pocket and it's for you."

She blinked and, eyeing him suspiciously, she added, "So, what's in here, anyway?" as she took his jacket off her shoulders and handed it back to him.

Ash finally got a lavender box out of the garment before throwing it over the couch. "Well... it used to belong to my mom, but it's yours now." He opened the box facing it to Misty. There she saw a sparkling string of pearls that was absolutely calling for her with its beauty.

"Oh, Ash, this is so beautiful!"

He smirked. "I thought you'd like it."

Misty stood silent. She couldn't believe he was gifting this to her, it must be worth hundreds, even thousands. And it spoke volumes to her.

"Why don't you wear it so we see how it fits?"

She frowned. "Ash, I don't think I should take it, I mean... it's too much, do you really want to give it to me?"

He flashed her a smile. "I do, I'm sure..."

He walked behind her and moved her hair over one of her shoulders, and she froze when she felt him putting the jewel around her neck. He then turned again to face her, and observed for a long moment how gorgeous she looked.

"It definitely suits you perfectly," he finally said.

She bowed her head in shame. How long had she waited for him to act like this? How many years? Lately he had been so gentle towards her, giving her presents, complimenting her. She loved everything about his new behaviour, but it was all so confusing. It almost felt... rushed. And she only hoped it wouldn't end with a painful crash.

"Ash..." she whispered. "What does this mean? Why are you giving this to me?"

"What? Am I not allowed to give you presents?"

"Yes, but... you never gave me something like this..."

"Up to now." He considered a thought for a second and added, "you should wear it for the upcoming party."

She grinned and his heart raced when he saw the shine in her light blue eyes. "I will. Thank you, Ash. Thank you for... everything. You are always there for me, you always cared." She embraced him strongly, nervously, and he embraced her back. "You're so important to me," she admitted.

He softly stroked her head against his shoulder and replied: "You're very important to me too."

The tension was consuming them. They stood still for a minute until unfortunately the video-phone started to ring. The unexpected sound made them jump in fright and brake the embrace.

"No way," he complained. But he didn't move.

"Aren't you going to answer?"

"No, just let it ring. If it's important they'll leave a voice message."

When the machine stopped, Ash caught sight of the chocolates' package and took it.

"Still willing for a dessert?" he asked.

"Shouldn't we wait until we're back at Sakura's?"

"Well, what do you say if we stay here for the rest of the night? It's too cold to go out, anyway."

Misty looked at him in surprise. "But... what would we do, then?"

"Uh, how about... coming clean?"

She blinked. "You mean... you're hiding something? Tell me, then. What do you have to say, Ash?"

Ash felt very nervous, but he knew the moment was perfect, and it could be a while before he had an other opportunity like this one. He looked into her eyes, and he could tell she was waiting for him to speak. It seemed to Ash that Misty was expecting him to utter _certain_ words, as if she were reading his mind. Those three words he was ready to say...


	7. Landscape View

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 7: Landscape View

The moment Ash had been waiting for had finally arrived. In a matter of seconds, Misty would know exactly what he felt for her. He cleared his throat, intent on confessing it all. But before he even got to say anything, they both heard the sound of a car reaching the house, its lights entering the living room through the big window. Ash couldn't believe his luck. Was fate playing some sick joke on him? All these interruptions were driving him crazy.

Misty neared the glass and pulled back the curtains on time to see Delia emerging from a jeep along with a man. Someone she had seen before.

"Oh, Gosh. You have no idea who your mother is dating."

"Who?"

At that precise moment the main door was opened and it revealed a mature but young-looking woman whose expression changed from happy to shocked when she saw her son in front of her. Misty, who was at her right, immediately remembered she was wearing Delia's former necklace and decided to hide it under her shirt to avoid unnecessary explanations.

"Oh... Hello, kids... I thought you'd be somewhere else."

"Actually, we were just heading right back," he lied. "So... see you later, mom."

"Ash, wait! Now since you're already here... can I ask you to stay? I want you to meet my friend."

"Uh... sure, but where is he?"

"Just picking up all the things I took to the picnic. He insisted on carrying them all inside by himself..."

"Ok, no problem."

"Well, I think I should go now," Misty said.

"Oh, but you can stay if you want, Misty," Delia told her.

"Thanks, but they may be waiting for me..."

"Alright then, just give me a second." She stuck her head out of the door and yelled, "Dear, Misty needs a ride back to the place she's staying at. Can you take her there, please?"

"Of course," a male voice came from the outside. Through the window Misty saw a pair of legs below a large pile of trembling plastic containers nearing the house, only to freeze for a second and slowly turn around to go back to the jeep.

"No, thanks," she rejected the offer. "I don't want to bother..."

"Oh, don't worry. He won't mind," Delia reassured her.

"Go, Misty," Ash said to her. "We can keep talking tomorrow."

"Fine. Don't forget there's still something you have to tell me," she said as she winked at him.

He sighed. As if he could forget about it... "Sure, I won't. Well, I guess I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, goodnight Ash. Goodnight, Mrs. Ketchum."

"See you."

"Goodnight, Misty," Mrs. Ketchum replied.

Minutes later, Misty was being taken back to Sakura's house by Delia's new love interest. She knew she had known this man before, and he recognized her as well.

"So, Misty. How have you been?"

"I've been fine, thanks."

"Delia told me you and Ash have been working together for some time now. She thinks he's very happy there with you."

"Really?"

"How long have you been friends?"

"About seven years."

"Well, I think that's enough to really get to know each other, huh?"

"Actually I think it's never enough."

He laughed but something suddenly caught his attention. Some meters before them, breathing heavily on the road, was an apparently badly hurt pokémon.

"Oh, no!"

"Is that a Pidgey?" she asked.

"Yeah, and it looks like it's been attacked. I'd better take it urgently to the Pokémon Center."

"The closest one is in Viridian City, about an hour from here."

"It's ok, I should have a potion here somewhere," he said as he opened the glove compartment. "But I'm taking it to the Center, anyway."

"Do you need any help?"

"Um... I suppose I won't make it to Delia's tonight. Would you call her and tell her that? I'll call her again when I get the chance."

"Sure, you can count on that."

"Thank you."

They stepped out of the jeep and picked the Pidgey up. The man quickly took Misty to the house and continued his path towards Viridian. Shortly after, the redhead informed Delia via telephone where said man had gone to, and that he'd have to spend the night there.

Once a wild Dodrio announced it was time to get up, Misty opened her eyes to a new day. A cold, cloudy, new day. The first thing she did, was recalling what had happened the night before. Again, they had been so close to a kiss. Maybe if Mrs. Ketchum hadn't arrived at that moment... But she could think of that later. Right now she had to focus on something else. Just one more day to go before Christmas, and she still had to prepare Ash's special present. It won't be anything he could get to imagine, but indeed something that will undoubtedly make him happy. She didn't tell Sakura or anyone else, but his present was the reason why she spent the whole morning outside, somewhere only she knew, not taking the risk to be followed by any of her friends. Her whereabouts for a few hours were unknown to everyone.

When she came back she was told that certain pokémon trainer had called to talk to her, so she returned the call. It turned out to be that he just wanted to go for a walk with her, and they agreed on a specific time later in the afternoon when he could pick her up.

It was five to four when Ash was in front of the main door.

"Hey, Ash. You're early."

"Hi, Misty," he said as he extended his hand towards her. "Here, I brought you a flower..." he hesitated before adding, "from mom's garden."

"Oh, why, thank you! I love it!"

As Misty took the orange flower, Satsuki appeared behind her with a horrified expression.

"Oh, my God! You ruined my garden!" she accused him.

"What?" Ash asked, confused. "Oh... yeah... sorry 'bout that," he apologized as a wave of heat ran though his body due to his embarrassment.

"I thought it was Brock who had been stealing my tulips but now I see it's you!"

"What? Wait! I didn't do it. I mean... not before this time."

Ash looked at Misty fearing that she would be angry at him for lying about where he had gotten the flower from, but she was just giggling.

"Yeah, sure..." Satsuki said.

"Hey, I'm saying the truth... Anyway, we have to go. See you later, Satsuki."

She sighed. "Have fun you two," she finally said as she saw them walking away.

"So, where are we going?" Misty asked.

"You'll see..."

Just being by his side was enough for Misty to bring back memories of the previous night, again. He still had to tell her something. Something very important.

He interrupted her thoughts.

"Where were you this morning, Misty? When I called Sakura told me you had gone out, but she didn't know where..."

She thought for a moment, as if not sure of what to answer. "I went to visit some friends."

His curiosity was aroused. "What friends?"

"Well, you don't know them..."

It seemed like that would be all she was going to say for the moment, so he let it go. "Oh, ok..."

"Just so you know, I'm going to see them again tomorrow, and I'll be back around noon."

"Hey, can I go with you?" he tried.

"No!" she shouted, startling him. "I mean... I'll be there just for a little while, so... if you want to see me I can go to your house later."

"But I want to meet them, Misty. Any friend of yours can also be of mine, right?"

"Right, but... I'd rather go alone," she said with a slightly sad smile for having to reject him. "Don't worry, Ash. You'll meet them. Just not yet." Her serious expression told him that there would be no further talk on the topic for the moment.

He pouted. "Fine..."

Still, he wondered who these people were, and started to contemplate the idea of secretly following her the next day, even if she had clearly stated that she didn't want him there.

"Guess what," she said. "Sakura said last night that she would like to make a new pokémon journey next year. That made me recall all those moments we spent together with Brock and Tracy... I felt so free by then, so... good."

"Hey, it's not like you can't feel like that now."

"Of course, but... I miss travelling... I really miss it."

"Yeah... I miss it too, I must say." He crossed his arms behind his head and looked at the sky, remembering his past excursions and exploits. "Those were the best years of my life... we had so much fun..."

Misty noticed the hint of nostalgia in his voice. "Why don't you try it again, then? You could start from the beginning in a new region," she proposed.

He lowered his arms back to his sides and shook his head. "No. I couldn't do that. Not without Pikachu by my side."

"Ash, I think Pikachu would be happy for you if you did it. I know it wants the best for you, and if pokémon journeys make you happy..."

"It doesn't matter, anyway. I don't need to travel to be a Pokémon Master. Besides... that's not the only thing that makes me happy."

"What else does, then?"

"I don't know... everyday things; a good meal, a joke, a challenge, spending time with my friends... staying with you at the Gym..."

She blinked. "Staying with me makes you happy? I'm glad to hear that!"

"Well, of course. We've known each other for so long, gone through uncountable adventures, and you've always been there for me. I know at first we couldn't stop fighting but our friendship has been growing from the beginning... and look at us now! I like to think that we get closer by the minute. That's why being with you is so important to me."

Misty was blushing widely, having never heard such things from Ash. Oh, how much she loved him! "You're very sweet, Ash," she said timidly, avoiding his eyes. "I'm also happy when I'm with you. And thanks... you were always there for me, too."

"You're welcome."

Things were starting to get a little awkward, so she chose to talk about something different.

"So... what about Gary? You sent the letter, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I already sent it... today. I feel kinda sorry for him, but I'm going to tell him the truth soon, so..."

"Will you ever tell me what kind of a bad joke caused all of this?"

"Uh... alright. But don't you dare tell anyone about it!" he warned.

"Hey, it can't be that bad."

"You have no idea."

"Well, just tell me already."

"He... he invited me to a bachelor's party of some friend of his. I didn't really want to go because, besides him, I didn't know anyone there, but he insisted. So when I got to the place, he said there would be a strip show..."

"Wait," she stopped him. "I'm sorry, but... do I want to keep listening? I mean-"

"It's not what you think," he quickly replied.

"You don't know what I'm thinking."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever." He cleared his throat and kept talking. "So most of the guys were excited about it, although it wasn't that interesting to me..."

She snorted. "Yeah, right..."

"Hey, I'm not Brock!" he defended himself. "And I'm trying to tell you something, here..." he said, seemingly a little offended.

"You're right, I'm sorry. So, what happened?"

"Gary said the girl of the show was... she was..."

"She was what?" she pushed.

"He said she was a very thin redhead from Cerulean City".

"Well, what's wrong with that? There are many girls in Cerulean."

"Yeah, but then he said... she was a very skilled water pokémon trainer. He was obviously talking about you, Misty."

"What? But why would he-"

"I know!" he interrupted her. "I couldn't believe him at first, but then... the music started and a girl appeared from nowhere... I hadn't gotten to see her face because soon enough a group of people was surrounding her and blocking the view, but when I got a glimpse of her, I swear, Misty... she looked so much like you. I was so confused, and shocked, and even angry. I thought that you might have been drank or something and that you needed help."

"Ash, you know I don't drink."

"I couldn't come up with an other explanation at the moment, given the circumstances."

"So, what did you do?"

"I took her by the arm and out of the house as fast as I could. Only once we were on the street I realized she was someone else... Then of course they threw me out." He lowered his head in shame. It had been so embarrassing! He was suddenly startled by Misty's hysterical laughter, though. He frowned. "It wasn't funny, you know? You should have seen their faces."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. After all you were just trying to _help me_," she said in a mocking tone, followed by a little more laughter.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, but decided to just drop it. "And obviously Gary knew it wasn't you. It may have been a simple prank, but he never even apologized." He smirked. "Now it's time I turn things around."

"You know, Ash... what you did was a very gentle gesture. Even though it wasn't me... thank you..."

She planted a kiss on his cheek, and they both smiled. After that, they walked in silence the rest of the way.

Finally, they arrived to a sizable hill overlooking the town. They sat down on the grass very close to each other and enjoyed the landscape. All the houses, even the market stores, looked very tiny from that height. They got a full view of Oak's laboratory, with pokémon running happily around the place. Although for Ash and Misty they seemed to be just colorful dots dancing with the wind. The trees were abundant, but they could spot livid gardens of blue, red, yellow and violet that definitely added a mystic touch to it all.

"Oh, Ash, look at the view... Pallet is so beautiful... so romantic..."

"Yeah, perfect scenery for a kiss, huh?"

She turned her head so she couldn't face him and smiled sheepishly. "You're incredible. You weren't like this when I met you, Ash. You've changed so much. Any girl could fall in love with you."

He raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"I know it."

"How about you, then?"

She faced him again to understand what he had meant by that question. "What?"

"Could you fall in love with me?"

She froze. She had been caught by her own words. "I don't know... I guess... it's possible..." She noticed her heart had started to beat faster.

"It's possible?" he asked a little too excited. "What should I have to do if I wanted you to fall for me?"

"I don't know, Ash. Just... be yourself?" she suggested.

"But I've always been myself, so-"

"I mean... it doesn't depend on what you do. I like to think that we can't decide who we'll fall in love with. It's something both physical and spiritual, but we can't reason with our feelings. We don't have a choice about it."

Talking to Ash about this sort of things wasn't really helping her to relax around him. Their eyes were locked on each other, and he was so close to her that she could almost taste him. Misty would have kissed him right then and there, but she just couldn't move... or speak anymore.

"Yeah, I get it," he said. "Sometimes, when I'm with this girl I like so much... My heart rate increases way too fast, and it's like... I can't breath... or think for that matter."

She nodded. "Have you ever imagined what it would be like if both of us-you!" she quickly corrected herself, "that girl and you... already knew what each other feels?"

"Well, actually I would love to know what it's like. As it is, I can really connect with her, but... getting to be more than friends would be... amazing."

This boy knew how to take her breath away. Again, she remained speechless for a couple of seconds, not having a clue on how to react. The tickles in her stomach were almost unbearable, so much she wanted to kiss him. But... how on Earth could that ever even happen? It wasn't like her to take the next step. And it wasn't like Ash either... or was it?

"What I believe is..." she finally managed to say, "once that special someone is finally with you... you can't do nothing but allow yourself to embrace the moment. When time and space don't matter anymore, because you get warm even in the cold, and you ran out of words but can express it all with a glance or a touch, that's when you realize you're in love with the right person. And when hearts are aglow, beating together as one, well... now that's something I would love to experience, too."

"Wow... you could inspire a novelist talking like that." He chuckled, but Misty barely smiled. It bothered her terribly not knowing how to tell Ash that it was him she would love to experience all that with.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Anyway... I think you've made the point there. I couldn't have said it any better."

Silence reigned over them and their smiles slowly faded. It was really awkward for Ash, being so close, having so much to say, and yet feeling unable to speak his mind. How could he break the ice?

"So... what's your Christmas wish, Misty?"

She raised an eyebrow at the random question. "I can't tell you that."

"Oh, come on. It's not a secret, is it?"

"Well, it kinda is..."

"Please tell me, I want to know."

She considered it for a moment before responding. "I may tell you... if you tell me your wish first."

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Fine. I'm not giving you my answer," she said humorously, turning around and running her hand through her hair as if he were missing some interesting information.

Her graceful movement would have caught his attention any other time, but Ash only frowned, suddenly deep in thought. This could be his chance to put an end to his secrets. He was sure he had already made his statement to her, but she may had not realized it yet. Hadn't their touches and conversations so far been proof enough? And what if she already knew how he felt, but it wasn't reciprocal? No... she wouldn't be playing with him if that were the case. Her love for him was in her eyes, he had seen it. Ash needed to make things clear, immediately.

"So what's it going to be, Ash? Are you telling me?" Misty asked him. It was almost as if she knew what he'd been thinking. He needed her question so he could give her his answer. He nodded in response. "Well, then. What do you want for Christmas?"

This was it. His opportunity to tell her everything. He looked into her eyes and held her gaze with intensity. This time, nothing could stop him from saying it. Nothing...

"I want... you."


	8. Secret Admirer

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

Chapter 8: Secret Admirer

Misty wasn't quite sure of what Ash was trying to say. So he wanted her, she thought… as his Christmas wish? "You… what?" she stuttered.

He realized he hadn't been very explanatory and didn't want to create any more confusing ideas for her. So he acted quickly. "If only you told me that you could feel for me a bit of this love I feel for you… that would be my wish come true."

She froze for a few seconds, her mouth slowly opening to express her shock. It seemed her heart was having her same reaction for she felt it stop, then suddenly start to beat so fast she could not control it. Ash did not, could not, be saying what it seemed he was.

"I mean…" he continued, knowing it would be more difficult for the two of them to keep a fluent conversation. "If you haven't noticed, I've always said you're my best friend, but… I want you too much as to leave it at that."

He was trying hard not to turn his eyes away from her, intensifying the burning sensation. He could die right there, right then, and all he wanted was to get this over with. It had tormented him ever since he could remember. Living with a secret, keeping it from someone whom has always been right next to him, was exhausting.

A rush of heat ran through her body as the information sank in. She struggled with her voice which hadn't made a single noise yet. If only he stopped staring at her like that!

"I…" she needed help. Maybe even an ambulance! Her mind was screaming for her to react, to believe in his words and jump in joy and hug him so tightly. It was taking her long enough.

Ash sighed and looked at the landscape, letting her take a breath for the first time. "I'm sorry, I see you weren't expecting this," he said softly. He didn't notice the tear that ran through her face.

When she felt less pressured by his determined gaze, she was finally ready to say something back.

"It's not that," she said looking at the grass, avoiding his eyes. He did hear the strain in her voice, though, as if she were trying hard not to cry. "It's just… are you sure, Ash?" she asked almost in a whisper.

His head quickly turned to her once more. It surprised him that all she answered was an expression of doubt towards his confession.

"Sure? Misty, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough. But I like you, a lot. And I want to be with you on a different level. I thought you knew by now, given those times when… when we almost kissed, and when we hugged, and… I thought…" he shrugged his shoulders, "maybe I was wrong. But I have strong feelings for you, I am pretty sure of that."

Her nerves were finally giving way to a more rational version of herself. She regained her composure and a big smile decorated her lips. Her eyes shone with the deepest feeling she'd ever had. A nervous hand extended to rest on his shoulder, signaling it was fine, he could stop explaining now, she understood.

"This is… incredible. I can't believe it, I…" she took a moment to wipe another tear. She needed to be strong or she wouldn't be able to speak. "I agree… I did suspect something, but I couldn't really trust my thoughts. It's been so long since we met and it didn't seem like you would change this much, Ash."

His eyebrows raised. "Are you blaming me, now?"

"No, not at all." She paused, but she knew it was her turn to tell him. "I'm sincerely happy you told me this, because…"

"There you are!" a male voice cut her speech.

They turned around to find Brock was right behind them, apparently unaware of what was going on.

"We've been looking for you guys." He then noticed there was some tension between them, if the hint of blush on Misty's cheeks wasn't proof enough. "Am I… interrupting something?"

"Oh, no; it's okay," she said, getting up. Ash mirrored her movement. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, but there's a Christmas parade about to start and thought you wouldn't want to miss it."

"Cool," Ash said, not liking the fact that he was being denied to hear whatever Misty was about to say. But at least he said his part, and it was only a matter of time before they finished their talk. Besides, the Christmas parade did sound exciting after all.

When the whole group was gathered at the main street, they noticed most of Pallet Town residents were there too, and even people from the nearest towns and cities. There was a taiko show, and both pokémon and humans in pokémon costumes danced as they advanced their march along the street while the sky got darker. Ash was hypnotized by a giant Pikachu. It seemed fate always wanted him to suffer with the nostalgia for the old times, when all he used to care about was becoming the very best with his loyal friend by his side. He looked to his right; she felt his eyes on her and smiled at him. That redhead really knew how to make him forget about everything else. What would her answer be? He couldn't stand anymore with his heart already out in the open and having no clue about her thoughts on that.

Misty was fascinated by a Gyarados figure, it looked almost real and the way it moved was very convincing. She saw the five pairs of legs under the water dragon and imagined for a minute what it would be like to live as one of them: owning the sea, being always in a peaceful atmosphere, so free of worries. Well, even pokémon have their worries, she thought. But probably none had felt what she was feeling right then. It was a mixture of great relief, happiness, and doubts and fears too. She was thankful, glad, that Ash felt for her the way she did for him. She believed his every word. The problem was, would it work? Could they actually change their comfortable state of best friends to be boyfriend and girlfriend? If they had a fight like they usually did, would they break up or would they sort it out? She was willing to do anything to be with him, for she knew she loved him since day one. But there was still that fear inside her.

She noticed Ash smiled at her and she returned the gesture again; that was all she could get herself to do. She was in love with that boy, no doubt. He neared her to initiate another dialogue, but Tracey stepped in his way and asked him to join him to buy some local food for everyone. They disappeared among the crowd, and Misty considered it was a good chance to get away from the noisy festivity. She apologized to everyone else with the excuse of having pending matters to attend. Ash and her were going to have plenty of time to talk later anyway.

She arrived at the forest and walked to an old, giant apple tree. It had a big whole despite it looking so strong. She picked a fruit, then kneeled and sweetly called, "Hello? Is anyone home? It's me, Misty. You can come out." She didn't have to wait long. A small, yellow creature walked out of the cave. "Pichu!" she greeted. "How have you been, little one? Are you alone?" The baby electric pokémon jumped to her legs and sat on her lap. Misty lied against the tree and petted the back of his neck. "Are you hungry?" she asked as she showed him the apple in her hand. Pichu nodded, then pointed his tiny fingers to the west trying to tell her something she didn't quite understand, before embracing his tummy for it started making hunger noises at the remainder of food. She enjoyed watching as Pichu ate enthusiastically. "Tomorrow night will be the Christmas party," she told him. "You know what that means, right?" She winked. Pichu could barely answer since he was still concentrated on his red meal, and she laughed.

The infant pokémon suddenly raised his ears, something had called his attention. He left the warmth of Misty's arms and hurriedly climbed the tree to the tallest branch. She stood up, surprised by the behavior.

"Pichu, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"Dear Gary," a voice of someone familiar scared her.

She turned around to find Ash's rival. "Gary! What are you doing here?" she asked. He was holding a piece of paper, reading aloud.

"_I am writing this letter to you in hopes that you can be respectful to me about what I'm going to tell you_," he continued.

Misty was shocked. He was reading to her the letter she wrote as a favor for Ash.

"_You'll see_," he read, "_ever since I met you I've always thought you were different from anyone else I knew. You're clever, confident, proud, and you fear nothing._"

Misty cleared her throat, her hands on her hips. "What do you think you're doing, Gary?" She didn't like one bit the whole situation.

"Hold on, it gets better," he told her. She rolled her eyes as he kept reading, too loud for her liking, what was meant to be a simple vindictive joke. "_I admire the passion you put into everything you set yourself to do, and I have to say, that's what attracted me to you the most._"

"Seriously, this is ridiculous. I don't care about your girlfriends, you know."

"_I became your follower, supporting you in whatever you did,_" he ignored her. "_And with time, not only was I your fan, I suddenly found myself unable to sleep because I couldn't get you out of my head… I realized I'd fallen in love with you. Now I am sorry if this sounds weird to you, I don't want to bother you anymore. So all I want you to know, is I'll go to your grandpa's meeting for Christmas and try to talk to you. Please, please don't reject me right away; give me a chance to prove I'm worth your time. I am sweet but I also have my strong personality. I'll be wearing a blue long dress and a bun, so if you like what you see, come talk to me. Wish you the best… your secret admirer._"

Misty clapped, pretending to have no clue about the words she chose herself. "Congratulations. So you have someone to meet now. The love of your life maybe, you just never know."

Gary put the letter in his pocket. "You can't fool me, Misty."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you may not want to believe this, but I'm used to receiving this type of letters actually. And almost immediately I recognize who wrote them by the writing style, the vocabulary used, even the orthographic mistakes sometimes, and details that make it too obvious. I'm that clever, just as this piece of paper says."

"So… who do you think wrote it?" she asked, doubting he knew the truth, since every sentence was a total lie.

He walked to her and softly caught her hair between his fingers. "That letter envelope has the watermark of Cerulean City's post office. I know it was you."

"What?!" she screamed. She didn't know about the watermark. How come she never realized? "Let me see that!" she tried to take the letter from his pocket but he didn't allow her.

"Hey, calm down. It's fine, Misty, I appreciate your confession to me and I'm glad I know about your feelings now."

"It's not real, Gary," she explained.

"You don't have to lie to me anymore, I understand." He touched her face and whispered to her, "I feel the same about you."

Her eyes grew big at the unexpected revelation. There was a moment of silence. What had she gotten herself into? "Look… I admit it, I did write that letter."

He embraced her. "See? When the writer describes herself as sweet, but with also a strong personality, only you came to my mind. And I can't wait to see you in that dress, blue is my favorite color."

"No, wait, it's all a misunderstanding!"

"We want each other, there's nothing else to understand," he stated as he leaned to plant a kiss on her lips.

Misty pushed him back and walked away from him. "No, no, you're wrong, this is all so wrong!" she yelled. "It was a joke, just a silly joke and I'm so sorry if you took it to heart but I'm not into you, Gary." She bit her lip knowing she'd just failed Ash at keeping the secret, but there wasn't any other way at hand.

Gary didn't look angry nor disappointed. He burst out laughing instead, confusing her. "Of course it was a joke, you idiot," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"I knew it the whole time. The woman who cleans my house saw Ash leaving something on the mailbox."

Misty kept silent for some seconds, then roared with a laughter that matched Gary's. "That fool!" So she didn't ruin the little revenge after all, it had been Ash who did it by letting himself be seen! "I'm really sorry, Gary, we didn't mean any harm, you know."

"Yeah, I guess I had it coming, anyway. Just make sure Ash doesn't know I got a little carried away."

She winked. "You can count on that."

He smirked. "And don't worry. I came here to train but I'm not interested in catching electric pokémon at the moment."

She blinked. So he had seen Pichu after all. "Thank you."

Gary nodded. "See you later," he said as he walked deeper into the forest.

The black tailed creature called Misty from above, and she told him it was safe to get down from the tree. "Alright, let's wait until the rest of the team comes back so we arrange our thing and then I'll go home."

"Pichu!" he answered.

Later that night, Misty was at Sakura's house with the girls. The parade was over and while having dinner she told them about Ash's confession.

"I can't believe you didn't tell him that you want him too!" Satsuki said.

"I was going to, but then I didn't get the chance."

"Well, there you go," Sakura handed her the phone. "You call him, and you tell him. Now."

"What? I'm not talking this on the phone with him! I need to see him," she protested.

"What is there to talk anyway? The poor guy must be suffering now because of your hysterics. Just make it quick."

"No, you don't understand. I love him, and I know he told me the truth. But I'm afraid he may be confused. I mean… it's been years, and we always had a very innocent relationship. What if he thinks he wants me but discovers later that it wasn't real love, but a simple crush? I don't want to go through that."

Sakura sighed; she didn't know what to say. Misty was such a bonehead!

"Misty," Lily called. "As your older sister it is my duty to teach you this: no risk, no win."

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't even try to make things work with him, you'll never know if it's a crush or real love. Would you rather live with the doubt? He won't be waiting for you forever. If you add fuel to the fire then you'll keep his interest; it's that easy."

Misty stood silent for a moment. It was true. She'd lost time fearing for some uncertain detail when she should have enjoyed the moment and simply tried to keep his interest in her. "You're right…" She smiled at her sister, surprised by her good advice. "Thank you, Lily."

"Now that we're done with this issue," Satsuki said, "could you please help me choose what to wear for tomorrow?"

Misty laughed. "I know exactly what color will suit you best."

The night of the party had finally come. Everyone was reunited at Professor Oak's home. Ash and Brock were speaking on the videophone with May and Max wishing them happy holidays. A pair of feminine voices caught the boys' attention as they saw the Cerulean sisters talking enthusiastically by the window. They said their goodbyes to the siblings of Petalburg City to greet the girls.

"I'll make the two of us a favor and take Lily away from Misty so you can talk to her in private," Brock said.

"I don't even know if I want to talk to her anymore. I mean, I do. But after she left the parade yesterday without an apparent reason I can only imagine it was to stay away from me."

"Misty staying away from you? Are you even listening to yourself? Stop torturing your mind with that and follow me."

They walked to them and Brock put an arm around Lily's waist. "Hello, ladies. I believe you both look wonderful tonight." They giggled and thanked him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Misty, Lily and I have some unfinished business to take care of."

"We do?" Lily asked. Brock tightened his hand on her so she could get the hint. "Oh, that's right. We do," she said before he took her away.

Misty laughed at the scene, but it turned serious as soon as Ash stood in front of her.

"Hi, Ash" she greeted, her cheeks turning pink.

"Hey." He was stunned by her image. Her hair long, as it had been the day she dressed up as a mermaid for an aquatic show at the gym so long ago. A red, long dress that was darker than her curls accentuated her curves. And the main accessory, a jewel he recognized right away. "So you're wearing the necklace I gave you."

She smiled. "I told you I would. I love it."

"You look beautiful," he said honestly.

Her smile grew bigger and her eyes began to shine. "Thank you. I've been meaning to talk to you, Ash. It just got a little harder than I'd expected."

"Yesterday when you left, I took it as a sign that you wanted to avoid me for what I'd told you earlier."

"Well, I did need some time on my own to think, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't come back to you."

"I guess..."

She wanted nothing more than to tell him right there that she was in love with him, but being surrounded by so much people would make it too intimidating. "Look," she said. "Why don't we…?"

"Ash Ketchum!" They turned their heads to see Gary approaching them.

Ash sighed. "Hey, Gary. What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you we're even now. I don't know if Misty told you yet but I know the admirer's letter was your idea."

"You knew?"

"I didn't mind, though. I played a worse joke on you so I'm fine with it."

"Oh, man… it's still not fair, you didn't even buy it. But, wait… when did the two of you meet?"

Gary noticed the question made Misty uncomfortable, but she might have her reasons for not wanting Ash to know, he thought. "I just came across her yesterday," he answered, and saw her smile. If she didn't want to reveal she'd been to the forest, then so be it.

"Oh, I see," he said, but he didn't quite believe it. He remembered that Misty had been hiding something from him. How could she have friends in Pallet Town that he hadn't met yet? Could she have lied to him and seen Gary in secret instead? Was that the real reason why she left the parade?

"Anyway, in a few days I'll be making a new journey. I'm not sure yet where I'm going to but I won't be bothering you for a while."

That alone was enough to bring Ash back from his internal debate and change his mood. "Really? A new journey?" He sounded more excited about it than Gary himself, making it obvious for Misty that he would love to travel again. But enough was enough.

Misty took Gary by the arm and took him a meter away from Ash so he wouldn't hear. "Gary, look," she told him. "Isn't Satsuki looking good in blue? Your favorite color, if I recall correctly." He raised an eyebrow as his attention turned to the pretty woman at the table.

"Was the bun your idea too?"

"Why don't you go and ask her?"

He smirked. "Fine," he said as he left the pair.

"What was that?" Ash asked her.

"Oh, nothing," she dismissed. "Now, why don't we go outside so we can talk in peace?"

Finally, what he had waited for. "Let's go."

If Misty returned or not his feelings, Ash was about to find out. It was the sweet tone of her voice and the way her eyes shone whenever she talked to him, though, that made him sure of one thing: no matter what she told him, no matter where their relationship went from then on, she would still and always be his best friend.


End file.
